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COKRIGHT DEPOSIT. 



THE LIGHTED WAY 




M. E. KERN 

Secretary Missionary Volunteer Department of Seventh 
Day Adventists, 



THE 



LIGHTED WAY 



By MILTON E. KERN 



REVIEW AND HERALD PUBLISHING ASSOCIATION 
Takoma Park, Washington, D. C. 

SOUTH BEND, IND. PEEKSKIIX, N. Y. 

Printed in tfte U, B. 4. 



gO» 






Copyright, 1922, by the 
Revieav and Herald Publishing Association 



Printed in the United States of America 



BEP2Q72 

C1A686134 



CONTENTS 

Supreme Importance of Character - 11 

The God-Planned Life 14 

The Gift of Choice - - - - 20 

Definite Life Standards 25 

Living by Principle - - - - 29 

Education 34 

Choosing a Life- Work - - - - 48 

The Spirit of Service 55 

Efficiency - - - - - 65 

Necessity of Obedience to Law - - 68 

Victory 72 

Honesty 76 

Loyalty 80 

Reading and Music 100 

The Appetites and Passions - - - 105 

Social Life 109 

Dress and Amusements - - - - 112 

Courtship and Marriage 121 

Which Way? 128 



To the Young People of the Advent Move- 
ment whose high ideals and noble pur- 
poses have been my inspiration. 



The Lighted Way 

One beautiful day in June, our train 
was climbing the eastern slopes of the 
Sierras, and we were watching the ever- 
changing scenery spread out before us. 
As we rounded the steep side of a moun- 
tain, away below us in a little valley we 
saw a beautiful lake, placid and blue. 
Then my attention was called to a mon- 
ument in the shape of a cross that 
stands in the valley near the lake, erected 
in memory of the ill-fated Donner party 
of immigrants who perished there in 
the winter of 1846. In a few hours we 
had scaled the summit, and were coast- 
ing down the sunny western slopes, past 
the famous gold diggings of those early 
days. But the Donner party never 
reached these gold fields of their quest. 
They became snowbound in that little 
mountain valley, food supplies gave out, 



10 The Lighted Way 

and men, women, and children died by 
scores. Thus they miserably perished 
after having traversed the weary plains 
and the waterless desert, and were al- 
most in sight of the prize. 

So it is in life! Many start out with 
great ambitions and the highest hopes, 
but do not reach their goal. They may 
perhaps pass by those who have dropped 
out because of difficulties. They labor 
on untiringly, and endure great hard- 
ships; but finally meet obstacles which 
they are unable to surmount. Hedged 
in by mountains of difficulty and numbed 
by the chilling snows of unbelief, they 
perish just across the range from the 
sunny slopes of their dreams. 

It is the hope of the writer that the 
young people who read these words may 
find the lighted way of true success, — ■ 
the way that grows brighter and brighter 
to the journey's end. 



Importance of Character 11 

SUPREME IMPORTANCE OF CHARACTER 

The first thing a young man needs to 
learn is that his greatest asset in life 
is character. Money, position, or intel- 
lectual power is of little value in com- 
parison. As Horace Mann said, " Fame 
is vapor; popularity an accident; riches 
take wings; those who cheer today will 
curse tomorrow; only one thing endures 
— character." Character is the distin- 
guishing feature of a human being. In 
God's sight men are what they are in 
their thoughts and ideals. Character 
decides the question of one's usefulness 
and happiness in this life, and deter- 
mines his eternal destiny. 

The one object of life, then, is the 
formation of character — character for 
eternity. And the greatest reward or 
punishment that can possibly come to 
any individual, is that very character 
which has been formed for eternity. As 



12 The Lighted Way 

a baby's gurgle in comparison to a pro- 
found lecture on philosophy, so are the 
things that men seek after and fight for 
in comparison with the great object of 
forming a perfect character. 

The great mass of humanity is con- 
cerned with making a living. But there 
is something higher and nobler than 
this, — the making of a life that is worth 
living. Making a living as one's sole 
aim, is small, timeserving, and dwarfed. 
Making a life is large, immortal, and 
infinite. " The one lives in the prison- 
limited circle of self, and the other in 
a world which is bounded only when 
infinity and eternity have limits. There 
is no circumference to the life lived out- 
side of self. Merely making a living only 
touches the crust of existence, and makes 
the most successful man cry out, * Van- 
ity of vanities; all is vanity/ Making a 
life is the primary and the essential. 



Importance of Character 1 



Q 



Better for Judas had he never been born, 
than to buy bread with his thirty pieces 
of silver. Making a living depends upon 
temporal circumstances. Making a life 
rests upon eternal principles. Making 
a life does not depend upon riches, or 
fame, or health, or anything except a 
holy principle and an undying purpose. 
Every man comes within the sweep of 
this radiant possibility." 

Character is all we can take with us 
out of this world. A godly character is 
a passport to the kingdom of God. An 
evil character is a passport to eternal 
oblivion. 



" There are two ways for travelers, only two 

ways: 
One's a hill pathway of battle and praise ; 
The other leads downward; though flowery 

it seem, 
Its joy is a phantom, its love is a dream/' 



14 The Lighted Way 

THE GOD-PLANNED LIFE 

The first great element of true suc- 
cess, then, is a recognition of a divine 
plan for the life. In a missionary con- 
ference I heard a short address given 
by Mr. Fritchley, an architect from 
Bombay, India. This man of wealth 
had set aside the entire income from his 
business to be used in religious and phil- 
anthropic work. Among other things, 
he constructed a building in Bombay, 
devoted to the uplift of young men. 

One night there came into the men's 
meeting a young Hindu, who was utterly 
discouraged, unhappy, and hopeless, hav- 
ing no knowledge of a God of love. He 
had left his home and people, and had 
come to the city for the purpose of com- 
mitting suicide. But as he listened he 
heard the speaker saying, " Young men, 
God has a blue print of every one of 
your lives, and He wants your life to 



The God-Planned Life 15 

be lived in harmony with His plan." 
Thought he, " If God has a plan for my 
life, then I ought not to destroy it." He 
listened, he continued to come, and he 
yielded his life to Jesus Christ. And so 
marvelous were God's plans for this 
young man, just redeemed from hea- 
thenism, that he became an earnest 
Christian worker, and later had charge 
of all the religious work carried forward 
in that building. 

It is purpose that gives meaning to 
life. To know and adopt God's purpose 
is to make Him the great architect of 
our characters. Under His guidance we 
are sure to triumph. Opposition will 
only whet the sword of resolution, and 
trials will but serve to redouble our 
diligence. 

There is an old fable of how a little 
pebble boasted of its beauty to the acorn 
that fell by its side, contrasting its own 



16 The Lighted Way 

polish and endurance with the dulness 
and decaying nature of the acorn. 

" Yes," said the acorn, " it is true that 
I will seem to decay, but from my wasted 
form will develop a new life. By and 
by I'll grow to be a great tree. The 
birds will lodge in my branches, and 
the beasts will rest in my shade. By 
and by Fll be cut down, and my body 
will be used to make the strong frame- 
work of the great ocean liner, to carry 
men and provision across the seas." 

"Ah! little acorn," said the pebble, 
" will you do all this? " 

" Yes," said the acorn, " God and I." 

Frances Willard said that when she 
was a little girl, she had a great desire 
to do something to make the world better. 
She would lie down on the prairie grass 
and look up into the sky and say, " 
God! what is it? What shall be the 
purpose of my life? " 



The God-Planned Life 17 

This should be the petition of every 
youth, — to know God's plan for his life, 
and to have the grace and courage to 
make that plan his own, for — 

" With God and one 
The mightiest things on earth are done." 

Mrs. E. G. White has said, " It is pu- 
rity of heart and singleness of purpose 
that constitute the true value of human 
beings." 

Character and purpose are God's 
standards of value in estimating our 
lives. Measured by these standards, 
young man, young woman, how much 
are you worth? 

It has been beautifully said that " in 
the dawning of every life there arises a 
star of hope. Whether that star sets 
over Sodom or Nazareth depends upon 
our purpose and our decision in life." 
Destiny is not a result of chance, but of 



18 The Lighted Way 

choice. It is our privilege to choose 
God's highway, and go on to victory. 

" Let thine eyes look right on, 
And let thine eyelids look straight before 

thee. . . . 
Turn not to the right hand nor to the left." 

Prov. 4:25-27. 

In northern Minnesota there is a little 
lake — Itasca. Out of it flows a small 
stream that is little more than a brook. 
But behold the mighty currents at New 
Orleans — irresistible and inexhaustible ! 
So is the mighty current of one's life 
purpose when he knows that God is his 
partner. " One might as well try to 
dam up the Amazon with bulrushes, or 
to stop the current of the St. Lawrence 
with bundles of baled hav, as to try to 
turn aside the man whose life is eter- 
nally linked to a mighty purpose." 



The God-Planned Life 19 

COLUMBUS 

" Behind him lay the gray Azores, 
Behind the Gates of Hercules; 
Before him not the ghost of shores, 

Before him only shoreless seas. 
The good mate said : ' Now must we pray, 

For lo! the very stars are gone. 
Brave Admiral, speak, what shall I say?' 
' Why, say, " Sail on ! sail on ! and on ! " ' 

[ ' My men grow mutinous day by day ; 

My men grow ghastly wan and weak.' 
The stout mate thought of home ; a spray 
Of salt wave washed his swarthy cheek. 
1 What shall I say, brave Admiral, say, 

If we sight naught but seas at dawn ? ' 
1 Why, you shall say at break of day, 
" Sail on ! sail on ! sail on ! and on ! " ' 

" They sailed and sailed, as winds might 
blow, 
Until at last the blanched mate said : 
' Why, now not even God would know 
Should I and all my men fall dead. 
These very winds forget their way, 

For God from these dread seas is gone. 
Now speak, brave Admiral, speak and 
say — p 
He said, ' Sail on ! sail on ! and on ! ' 



20 The Lighted Way 

" They sailed. They sailed. Then spake the 
mate: 
1 This mad sea shows his teeth tonight. 
He curls his lip, he lies in wait, 

With lifted teeth, as if to bite! 
Brave Admiral, say but one good word. 

What shall we do when hope is gone? ' 
The words leapt like a leaping sword, 
1 Sail on ! sail' on ! sail on ! and on ! p 

" Then, pale and worn, he kept his deck, 
And peered through darkness. Ah, that 
night 
Of all dark nights ! And then a speck — 

A light! a light! a light! a light! 
It grew, a starlit flag unfurled! 

It grew to be Time's burst of dawn : 
He gained a world ; he gave that world 
Its grandest lesson: ' On, sail on! ■ " 

— Joaquin Miller. 
THE GIFT OF CHOICE 

But though God has a life purpose for 
us, and is willing and anxious to direct 
us in its fulfilment, there is one great 
fact that must be understood, — it is ours 
to choose. 



The Gift of Choice 21 

There is a book for girls, by Nellie 
M. Smith, entitled, " The Three Gifts of 
Life." It shows how the superiority of 
animal life over plant life, and of hu- 
man life over animal life, is due to these 
gifts. Plant life has one gift — depend- 
ence. Animal life has dependence, and 
another much finer gift — instinct 
Sometimes it is called blind instinct, 
because in animals this instinct is not 
governed by reason or choice. Human 
life has dependence, and instinct, and 
that other gift, which makes us far supe- 
rior to animals, and only a little lower 
than the angels — the gift of choice. 
This is the crowning gift of human life. 
And while there came with this gift the 
possibility of sin, it made us capable of 
illimitable progress and infinite happi- 
ness. 

A great American statesman was once 
asked what was the most profound 



22 The Lighted Way 

thought he had ever had. Promptly he 
replied, " The thought that I am indi- 
vidually accountable to God for the life 
that I live. ,? So it is, dear reader. The 
two ways of life are before us, and we 
must choose. 

The apostle Paul says, " We are His 
workmanship, created in Christ Jesus 
for good works, which God afore pre- 
pared that we should walk in them." 
Eph. 2: 10, A. R. V. Having prepared 
the way, the Lord's invitation is, " Choose 
you this day whom ye will serve." 
Joshua 24:15. Make your decision 
whether you will walk in this way, or 
follow in the paths of evil. 

It is not enough, then, to have a pur- 
pose, although there can be no triumph 
without one. It is not enough to know 
that God has a plan for our lives, though 
no one can be truly successful unless 
he follows the plan of his Maker. We 



The Gift of Choice 23 

must actively choose God's plan for us. 

Your forward look on life without 
such a definite surrender to the will 
and purpose of God is like looking into 
a telescope that has not been focused. 
Everything is confused and fogged. Ad- 
just the instrument a hair's breadth, and 
behold a vision of great beauty spread 
out before you in the distance. Recog- 
nize God as King in your life, surrender 
to the working out of His plans for you, 
and your vision of life's possibilities will 
be clarified and your life glorified. 
" Higher than the highest human thought 
can reach is God's ideal for His chil- 
dren." — "Education" p. 18. 

The spiritual field glass through which 
we see God's ideals for us is double- 
barreled. One barrel is " I trust " and 
the other " I will." We must believe 
that God's way is best, and we must sub- 
mit ourselves to His guidance. 



24 The Lighted Way 

" When we walk with the Lord 

In the light of His word, 
What a glory He sheds on our way! 

While we do His good will, 

He abides with us still, 
And with all who will trust and obey." 

The story is told of an eagle that 
lighted on the body of a lamb which was 
frozen in a cake of ice three miles above 
Niagara. While he fed upon the carrion, 
his claws became frozen in the fleece. 
Nearing the falls, this king of birds, un- 
conscious of his bondage, stooped and 
spread his wings for flight, but in spite 
of all his struggles, he was carried over 
the falls into the chasm. So we may be 
carried into the vortex of eternal dam- 
nation while desiring to be saved and 
while struggling with all our human 
strength to do right. 

Nothing short of a conscious and ab- 
solute yielding of all our life's purposes 
to the will of God will suffice, We must 



Definite Life Standards 25 

not seek the carrion of sordid purposes 
and selfish desires in the valleys of sin, 
but fly away to the crags and peaks of 
God's mountains of freedom, vision, and 
opportunity. 

DEFINITE LIFE STANDARDS 

When one deliberately and fully 
chooses to allow God to have His way 
in the life, coming to Him with repent- 
ance and confession, the past, with its 
unworthy motives, selfish ambitions, and 
sinful practices, is forgiven. The char- 
acter of Christ is substituted for our 
characters, and we are accepted before 
God just as if we had never sinned. The 
past is obliterated, so to speak, and the 
Lord gives us a new heart — new de- 
sires, new purposes, new motives. 

Now the great question comes, How 
can I continually live this higher life? 
How can I overcome the influences of 



26 The Lighted Way 

heredity and environment? Jesus said 
that He always did those things that 
were pleasing to His Father. John 8: 
29. Can this be true in my life? 

This is a serious question; and right 
here many fail. The apostle Paul wrote, 
" As ye have therefore received Christ 
Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in Him." 
Col. 2 : 6. Just as conversion is the re- 
sult of our surrender and God's action, 
so the new life is to be lived by the co- 
ordination of our will with the Holy 
Spirit. Just as the farmer must have 
faith in nature and surrender to her 
laws if he would reap a bountiful har- 
vest, so must the soul continually sur- 
render to God and believe in the power 
of His grace. 

The Christian cannot be indifferent to 
the great work of character building. 
The perfection of character and the ac- 
complishment of God's purpose in the 



Definite Life Standards 27 

life must become the ruling passion of 
the soul. 

One great difficulty, especially with 
young people, is that instead of studying 
faithfully the great principles of right- 
eousness, and establishing for themselves 
definite standards of conduct, they drift 
along without a clear, definite compre- 
hension of the true principles of the 
Christian life. Without clear-cut rules 
of conduct, they become a prey to im- 
pulse and inclination. Many a youth 
with great natural endowments and good 
desires has fallen before the onslaught 
of some overmastering temptation, be- 
cause he lacked such definite life stand- 
ards and an unswerving determination 
to arraign every question of conduct 
before the judgment bar of these laws 
of life. 

Hartley Coleridge, the brilliantly en- 
dowed son of the great Samuel Taylor 



28 The Lighted Way 

Coleridge, had a keen intellect and gave 
promise of achievements equal to those 
of his distinguished father. But he be- 
came a slave to licentiousness and a curse 
to society; and when he was twenty-five 
years old, a physical wreck, he wrote 
upon the flyleaf of his Bible these verses : 

" When I received this volume small, 
My years were barely seventeen, 
When it was hoped I should be all 
Which once, alas ! I might have been. 

" And now my years are twenty-five, 
And every mother hopes her lamb, 
And every happy child alive, 
May never be what now I am." 

These words might truly be written 
of many young men and women who 
started out with every prospect of a suc- 
cessful career, but who failed to stand 
firm for principle, 



Living by Principle 29 

LIVING BY PRINCIPLE 

On the lower Mississippi it is neces- 
sary to construct great dikes, or levees, 
to keep the river from flooding the coun- 
try. The contractors who construct these 
levees are warned that not the least bit 
of wood, not so much as a twig, is to 
be left in the embankment. The commis- 
sion that has this work in charge has 
learned that any foreign substance left 
in the levee may decay and start a leak 
that will bring disaster. So it is with 
a weak spot in the character. It may 
be a little thing, and even the child of 
God may say, " It doesn't matter." Prin- 
ciple is surrendered, and the rent in the 
levee that holds back the floods of sin 
becomes larger and larger till the life is 
abandoned to unrighteousness. 

The thought is well expressed in the 
following quotations from the pen of 
Mrs. E. G. White: 



30 The Lighted Way 

" The Bible teaches men to act from 
principle, and whenever we successfully 
resist evil influence, we are strengthen- 
ing that principle which has been as- 
sailed. The mere possession of talent is 
no guaranty of usefulness or happiness 
in life. Right principles are the only 
basis of true success." — Review and 
Herald, Sept. 25, 1883. 

" Nothing with which we have to do 
is really small. Every action is of some 
account, either on the side of right, or 
on the side of wrong. It is only by ex- 
ercising principle in the small transac- 
tions of ordinary life that we are tested 
and our characters formed. . . . The 
mind must be trained through daily tests 
to habits of fidelity, to a sense of the 
claims of right and duty above inclina- 
tion and pleasure." — " Testimonies" Vol. 
Ill, p. 22. 

The characters which we are forming 



Living by Principle 31 

for eternity are being woven in the loom 
of our daily lives. When I was a boy 
and went to " grandma's house/' I some- 
times sat on the long seat with grand- 
mother as she wove carpets on the loom, 
in the old log house just back of the 
newer house. In the pioneer days before 
my time, grandmother used to card the 
wool, spin the yarn, and weave the cloth 
from which clothes were made for the 
family. Many a time I have heard 
mother tell of the novel experience when, 
as a girl, she had her first " store dress." 
I can see that old loom yet. Back and 
forth, back and forth, the shuttle would 
fly, and little by little the fabric was 
formed. So it is in our lives. " Every 
time the shuttle passes, it draws after 
it a thread which is fastened to right 
principles and holy actions, or the op- 
posite." How important that the proper 
threads be woven into our web of destiny ! 



32 The Lighted Way 

Kipling has expressed this idea of liv- 
ing a straightforward life based on prin- 
ciple in his poem entitled, 



IF 



" If you can keep your head when all about you 

Are losing theirs and blaming it on you; 

If you can trust yourself when all men doubt 

you, 

But make allowance for their doubting too ; 

If you can wait and not be tired by waiting, 

Or being lied about, don't deal in lies, 
Or being hated, don't give way to hating, 
And yet don't look too good nor talk too 
wise; 

" If you can dream, and not make dreams your 
master ; 
If you can think, and not make thoughts 
your aim; 
If you can meet with triumph and disaster, 
And treat those two impostors just the 
same ; 
If you can bear to hear the truth you've 
spoken 
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools, 



Living by Principle 33 

Or watch the things you gave your life to, 
broken, 
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out 
tools ; 

" If you can make one heap of all your winnings 
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss, 
And lose, and start again at your beginnings 

And never breathe a word about your loss ; 

If you can force your heart and nerve and 

sinew 

To serve your turn long after they are gone, 

And so hold on when there is nothing in you 

Except the will which says to them, ' Hold 

on!' 

" If you can talk with crowds and keep your 
virtue, 
Or walk with kings, nor lose the common 
touch ; 
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt 
you; 
If all men count with you, but none too 
much; 
If you can fill the unforgiving minute 

With sixty seconds' worth of distance run, 
Yours is the earth and everything that's in it, 
And — which is more — you'll be a man, 
my son." 



34 The Lighted Way 

EDUCATION 

A pound of pig iron is worth a few 
cents. A pound of refined steel, manu- 
factured into watch hairsprings, is worth 
several thousand dollars. Young people 
with high purposes should see the neces- 
sity of training all their powers to the 
highest possible point of efficiency; for 
an educated individual is far more valu- 
able in the service of God and humanity 
than one who is untrained, even though 
he may have great native ability. 

This message came to the young peo- 
ple of the Advent Movement several 
years ago: 

" Let the mental powers be girded for 
work, and by vigorous exertion let the 
mind be enlarged and developed. There 
is more need now than ever before that 
our young men and women shall be in- 
tellectually qualified for the work." — 
" Christian Education" p. 139. 



Education 35 

True education is very comprehensive. 
It involves more than the preparation 
for some limited sphere of activity. " It 
has to do with the whole being, and with 
the whole period of existence possible to 
man. It is the harmonious development 
of the physical, the mental, and the spir- 
itual powers. It prepares the student 
for the joy of service in this world, and 
for the higher joy of wider service in 
the world to come." — " Education" p. 13. 

An all-round education, then, is the 
training of the head, hand, and heart, — 
the head to think, the hand to do, and 
the heart to guide. 

Get all the training possible, but do 
not neglect the practical. " The position 
of ... . music teacher cannot equal in 
importance that of the cook. . . . Daily 
systematic labor should constitute a part 
of the education of the youth." — " Coun- 
sels to Teachers" p. 292. Give no coun- 



36 The Lighted Way 

tenance to the idea that intellectual ac- 
quirements make it undignified for you 
to labor with your hands. 

One of our American Presidents was 
asked, in a foreign country, what was 
the coat of arms of his family. He re- 
plied, " Shirt sleeves." 

An anecdote is told of Abraham Lin- 
coln. Early one morning a Senator went 
to the White House, and was so insistent 
on seeing the President before office 
hours, that he was directed to the base- 
ment. Going down the steps, he saw 
the Chief Executive blacking a pair of 
boots. He threw up his hands in utter 
astonishment and said, " Mr. Lincoln, 
do you black your own boots? " 

" Well, Senator/' the great jovial man 
replied, " whose boots do you think I 
would be blacking? " 

" By precept and example, Christ has 
dignified useful labor. From His ear- 



Education 37 

liest years He lived a life of toil. The 
greater part of His earthly life was spent 
in patient work in the carpenter's shop 
at Nazareth." — " Counsels to Teachers" 
p. 276. 

No young man or woman can be truly 
successful who looks upon labor with the 
hands as degrading. In all walks of life, 
— in the Lord's work at home and in 
the mission field, — practical men and 
women are needed, those who are quali- 
fied and willing to do whatever the needs 
of the work require. No work is menial 
that needs to be done. 

Every youth should be willing to put 
forth strenuous efforts to secure a Chris- 
tian education. In the secular schools 
the most important part of education is 
omitted. The spiritual element in man's 
nature is the highest, and should control. 
And he who neglects the constant and 
persistent cultivation of the heart will 



38 The Lighted Way 

find by and by that the inner light burns 
dim or has gone out. 

When Charles Darwin was an old 
man, he said, " In my younger days I 
was deeply religious, but I made my 
mind a kind of machine for grinding out 
general laws in the material world, and 
my spiritual nature atrophied/' 

It may be less expensive at the time 
to attend a free school, or a school nearer 
home, but many of our young people 
have suffered eternal loss in so doing. 
The lack of daily religious instruction; 
the insistence on the great importance 
of merely intellectual pursuits; the re- 
gard for teachers who look upon the Bible 
as a myth, and religion as old-fashioned ; 
the living in the atmosphere of worldly 
ideals; and the constant association with 
worldly young people, — these things 
have silently and gradually dulled the 
keen edge of the convictions of young 



Education 39 

people who were once earnest Christians. 
Some of these young people have fallen 
beneath the Juggernaut of immorality. 
Others have kept the respect of the world 
and have attained to great eminence — 
but at what a cost? 

Do not be swerved from your purpose, 
young people. Remember that the easy 
road is not the best road. It is true you 
will have more company on the easy 
road; but the lighted way is an upward 
climb, and not so many travel that way. 

Make circumstances your servant, not 
to hinder, but to help you. " Let the 
youth who need an education set to work 
with a determination to obtain it." — 
" Christ's Object Lessons" p. 331*. Ob- 
tain a scholarship by selling gospel liter- 
ature. If circumstances do not permit 
this, devise some way of earning money 
for an education. If you are on a farm, 
devote a calf, or the product from a plot 



40 The Lighted Way 

of land, to your education. If you are 
in the shop, endeavor to lay something 
aside for your future education. Re- 
member, a dollar in the head is worth two 
in the pocket. Those in the pocket may 
be stolen, but those in the head grow 
more valuable with use. 

And remember, you do not have to 
have the full price of several years of 
schooling before starting in. Approxi- 
mately one fourth of the students in our 
American colleges are working to meet 
their expenses, and the per cent is larger 
in our denominational schools. Some one 
has said, " With no money of their own, 
with no well-to-do kinsmen, and with no 
wealthy friends, — with nothing but the 
unconquerable pluck and definite pur- 
pose of American youth in their veins, — 
they are swimming with strong strokes 
across the current that separates youth 
from manhood. 



Education 41 

" It is upon young people like these 
that the future of our country depends, — 
upon self-made men and women, brave 
to dare and resolute to do, willing to face 
labor and sacrifice and self-denial, frank 
to accept the temporary burden of double 
work, and clear to see the advantage 
which the future holds in reserve for all 
who equip themselves for its opportuni- 
ties and its duties. 

" A youth who steps into the arena of 
life from a gymnasium of honest train- 
ing like this, goes full armed and 
equipped for service and success." 

Several years ago a letter was received 
at one of our colleges, asking if the col- 
lege would receive a young man without 
money, who was willing to work. The 
president instructed his secretary to 
write that it would be impossible for him 
to enter without any money. But before 
the letter reached the young man, he 



42 The Lighted Way 

had become so anxious that he started 
for the school. 

" Well, seeing you are here, we will 
give you a trial/ ' said the president, " but 
it will be well-nigh impossible for you 
to make it." 

That young man made himself so use- 
ful that he soon had heavy responsibili- 
ties placed upon him, with a correspond- 
ingly heavier pay envelope, so that he 
went to school for several years, and 
came out a little ahead financially. He 
became an acceptable Christian worker. 
His younger brother followed his exam- 
ple, and he is at the head of a training 
school in a foreign field. While I would 
not advise this young man's plan of go- 
ing to school without first making ar- 
rangements, I give this as an example 
of what pluck will do in gaining an 
education. Many other such examples 
might be given. 



Education 43 

When you enter the Christian school, 
remember that education is not all found 
in the textbooks. Plan to make your 
presence a blessing to others, as well as 
to receive a training for future work. 
Missionary endeavor is the laboratory in 
which to receive a training for gospel 
w r ork. " Even while attending school, 
students may, if true to their profession, 
be living missionaries for God. All this 
will take time; but the time thus em- 
ployed is profitably spent, for in this 
way the student is learning how to pre- 
sent Christianity to the world." — " Tes- 
timonies" Vol VI, p. 173. 

The world is full of one-sided people 
who are victims of the idea that edu- 
cation is merely learning. Such people 
usually have an overexalted idea of the 
value of intellectual attainments, and 
have great reverence for scholastic de- 
grees. A degree, as a certificate of the 



44 The Lighted Way 

completion of a practical course of study, 
is a good thing to have, but a poor thing 
to trust in. In 1909 Mrs. E. G. White 
wrote : " Our schools should have little 
to say now of ' degrees/ . . . Let ' de- 
grees ' be little spoken of." We must 
learn to value realities rather than the 
forms and symbols of things. 

While I would urge, with all my 
power, the importance of young people's 
taking courses of study in the academy 
and college, it is very important that we 
understand that not all education is ob- 
tained in the schools. There are men 
who have attacked the problems of life 
so vigorously, unaided, that they have 
become well educated. By the study of 
men and close observation of the work- 
ing out of the principles of life, as well 
as by the study of books, they have ac- 
quired an independence of thought and 
action and a well-balanced judgment su- 



Education 45 

perior to many graduates. They have 
that degree so indispensable to success, 
— a degree of common sense, which un- 
fortunately not all college graduates 
have. We frequently see such men hold- 
ing leading positions in the world and 
in the church. Their power of leader- 
ship is in no sense an argument against 
college training, for doubtless there are 
thousands of men and women — useful 
workers — who never could have become 
such except for the systematic training 
of the schools. These self-educated men, 
I notice, are usually very emphatic in 
advising young people to obtain a college 
training. 

A leading educator in America said 
that the best-educated man he ever knew 
could neither read nor write. A prom- 
inent leader in Washington, D. C, re- 
marked to me incidentally that he had 
been placed under the embarrassment of 



46 The Lighted Way 

refusing an invitation to join the Uni- 
versity Club, giving the reason that he 
was not a college graduate. 

At a business men's dinner, this take- 
off on " educated " people was told; I 
repeat it only to impress the importance 
of our recognizing the educated mind, 
whether trained within the walls of a 
school building or not: 

A poor man came to town with only 
fifty cents in his pocket, seeking work. 
Failing to find a job, he was finally about 
to arrange to become janitor of the 
church. When it was learned, however, 
that he could not write, he was not given 
the position, as the janitor had to sign 
the receipts for pew rent. He bought 
some goods with his fifty cents, and be- 
gan to peddle. In the course of several 
years, he became a prosperous business 
man. When drawing a check to pay for 
a new business corner, the banker said, 



Education 47 

" Mr. Brown, you certainly have done 
well in this town. You are well-to-do, 
have a fine family, and are respected by 
everybody. My! what might you have 
been if you had only had an education! " 

" Yes," said Mr. Brown, " I might 
have been church janitor." 

And there are some who have had the 
advantages of formal education who are 
not educated in the truest sense. An 
old, ruddy mountaineer characterized the 
teachers of a certain school which had 
been established in his community, in 
this way, " They are powerfully edu- 
cated, but they don't know much." 

Remember this word, that " he is a 
Christian who aims to reach the highest 
attainments for the purpose of doing 
others good." — " Christian Education/' 
p. 51. 



48 The Lighted Way 

CHOOSING A LIFE-WORK 

One of the important questions that 
face the young people is the choice of a 
life-work. Some people merely drift into 
almost anything in life. They are car- 
ried along with the current of the so- 
ciety in which they live, and work at 
what happens to come along. But this 
question of your life-work, as well as 
every other matter of importance, should 
be settled on the basis of well-defined 
Christian principles. 

" Many years ago an American, trav- 
eling in England, met a Miss Nightin- 
gale, who said to him : ' You have had 
much experience in the world of philan- 
thropy; you are a medical man and a 
gentleman. Now may I ask you to tell 
me upon your word, whether it would 
be anything unsuitable or unbecoming 
for a young Englishwoman to devote her- 
self to works of charity, in the hospitals 



Choosing a Life-Work 49 

and elsewhere? ' The reply was em- 
phatic : ' My dear Miss Florence, it would 
be unusual, and in England whatever is 
unusual is apt to be thought unsuitable; 
but I say to you, Go forward, if you 
have a vocation for that way of life ; act 
up to your aspiration, and you will find 
that there is nothing unbecoming or un- 
ladylike in doing your duty for the good 
of others. Choose your path, go on with 
it, wherever it may lead you, and God 
be with you/ " 

The result of Florence Nightingale's 
choice the whole world knows. At a Cri- 
mean War dinner the old officers were 
invited to write on slips of paper the 
name of the one connected with that war 
which would most likely descend to pos- 
terity with renown. Every paper bore 
the name of Florence Nightingale. 
Choosing her life's work without thought 
of fame, but only that, like her Master, 



50 The Lighted Way 

she might go about doing good, she be- 
came known the world over as " the 
angel of the Crimea/' and " the lady 
with the light.' ' And her name has be- 
come the symbol for unselfish ministry 
to the sick and dying. 

A veteran missionary who was at home 
on his first furlough after fifty years of 
service, was invited to take the pastorate 
of a rich city church. He was told of 
the splendid opportunities he would have 
to advance the cause of missions by in- 
teresting men of means to give liberally, 
but he felt that God wanted him in the 
mission field. 

Years later the missionary was in- 
vited to become the corresponding sec- 
retary of his foreign mission board, but 
still he felt that God wanted him where 
he was ; and that settled it. In like man- 
ner he refused an appointment by Pres- 
ident Arthur as United States minister 



Choosing a Life- Work 51 

to Persia. Specious arguments favoring 
each of these appointments could easily 
have been found, but he had the grace 
not to look for them. 

The one great thing in finding our 
place in the world's work is to learn 
God's appointment, and keep it, regard- 
less of our natural inclination or temp- 
tation to leave it. And in finding God's 
appointment it is well to remember that 
He would have us choose a line of work 
in which we can live up to our highest 
ideal, and in which we can render the 
best service to humanity. Consideration 
should, of course, be given to one's spe- 
cial ability and fitness for this or that 
line of work. 

" Louis Agassiz, who, when asked to 
do something which he felt was not the 
most useful work possible for him, said, 
' I must decline, gentlemen ; I have no 
time to make money.' " 



52 The Lighted Way 

Frances Willard followed these prin- 
ciples. When she gave up her work at 
Evanston, 111., she received two offers, 
one to connect with a woman's college in 
the East at a good salary, the other to 
take the presidency of the local Chicago 
W. C. T. U., a position without salary. 
Frances Willard had seen a vision of 
the great good to be accomplished in the 
temperance movement, and although she 
had an aged mother to support, she ac- 
cepted the Chicago position. At times 
she and her mother came very near to 
the verge of want, but she continued in 
the work to which she believed God had 
called her. Today her marble statue 
stands in the Hall of Fame at Washing- 
ton, and she is sometimes called " the 
uncrowned queen of America." Millions 
of homes have been blessed by the choice 
she made. 

It was Frances Willard who said, " No 



Choosing a Life- Work 53 

success in life is anything but an abso- 
lute failure, unless its purpose is to in- 
crease the sum of human good and hap- 
piness." She was right. It should be 
to serve humanity and to do God's will 
that we make our decisions, and not to 
seek praise, appreciation, or money. 

The greatest work in any generation 
is to give God's message to the people of 
that generation. So the most important 
work in these last days is to give to the 
world the message of a crucified, risen, 
and soon-coming Saviour. This is the 
work that should fire the zeal and kindle 
the enthusiasm of every young man and 
young woman who has accepted the ad- 
vent message. It should be our ambition 
to have a part in the closing work of 
the gospel. Seek not for position or 
power, but pray that God will so fill you 
with His grace that you may be a win- 
ner of many souls. 



54 The Lighted Way 

Many years ago a young artist was 
coming into great renown in London 
because of his paintings. This young 
man painted the picture of a forlorn 
woman and her child, out in a terrible 
storm. As he painted, it entered into 
his soul that this was a real picture of 
human life. And the question came, 
" What are you going to do about it? " 
He left his studio, and went into the 
slums of London, and worked for years 
to rescue men, women, and children from 
sin. Amid that darkness another vision 
came to him. He said, " This is not 
enough. I must sacrifice yet more." He 
went into the heart of Africa, and there 
did a great work in bringing the light 
of God to those who sat in darkness. 

This young man might have lived at 
ease, enjoyed the praise of cultured peo- 
ple, and had the satisfaction of feeling 
that his art had an uplifting influence, 



The Spirit of Service 55 

if he had not seen that vision of a lost 
world. Happy are the youth who see 
that vision, and who listen to the cry 
of the lost, and give themselves to unself- 
ish service, " anywhere for the Son of 
God and the sons of men." There are 
many of our young people who need to 
drop the brush and take up the cross, 
who need to surrender their love of ease 
and selfish gratification, and inquire, 
" Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do? " 
" Life holds no privilege so precious as 
to give itself in behalf of the lost." 

THE SPIRIT OF SERVICE 

And having settled your life purpose 
on the broad basis of service to your 
fellow men, let the spirit of service per- 
vade your entire life. The hypothetical 
question was once asked by a speaker, 
" If a ship were wrecked in mid-ocean, 
and only a single lifeboat were available, 



56 The Lighted Way 

and if there were twenty strong, able- 
bodied young men on board and twenty 
weakly women, would it not be better 
for the world to save the strong, capable 
men, and let the others drown? " Amid 
the applause of his audience the speaker 
answered his own question thus, " What 
possible good could twenty such men as 
that be to the world? " It is only those 
who, like Jesus, live to bless others, that 
make the world any better for their hav- 
ing lived in it. 

This involves the willingness to sacri- 
fice for the sake of others. In Belfast 
there is a beautiful monument dedicated 
to the twenty-two men of that city who 
went down with the " Titanic," April 
15, 1912. The inscription reads thus, 
" Their devotion to duty and heroic con- 
duct through which the lives of many on 
board were saved, have left a record of 
calm fortitude and self-sacrifice which 



The Spirit of Service 57 

will ever remain an inspiring example to 
succeeding generations. i Greater love 
hath no man than this, that he lay down 
his life for his friends/ " 

When General Booth was asked to 
send a cable message to his followers who 
were assembled in a great meeting in 
New York, he sent this word, " Others/' 
C. D. Meigs was inspired by the noble 
thought contained in this brief message 
to write, 

OTHERS 

" Lord, help me to live from day to day 
In such a self -forgetful way 
That even when I kneel to pray, 
My prayer shall be for — others. 

" Help me in all the work I do 
To ever be sincere and true, 
And know that all I'd do for you 
Must needs be done for — others. 

" Let self be crucified and slain, 
And buried deep ; and all in vain 



58 The Lighted Way 

May efforts be to rise again* 
Unless to live for — others. 

" And when my work on earth is done, 
And my new work in heaven's begun, 
May I forget the crown I've won, 
While thinking still of — others. 

" Others, Lord, yes, others ; 
Let this my motto be. 
Help me to live for others, 
That I may live for Thee." 

The principles of right will lead one 
always to do his best. " A business man 
asked a stenographer to do extra work 
for him at her home. He was a little 
dubious about the result, for the manu- 
script he gave her to copy was wretch- 
edly written. However, the finished 
work proved to be in faultless condition. 
He wondered a little until he learned by 
accident how the stenographer overcame 
one of the difficulties in her way. Con- 
fronted by a geographical name Which 



The Spirit of Service 59 

was absolutely undecipherable, she did 
not leave a blank in the page, as many 
another worker would have done, but she 
made a vain search through several 
books, and finally, though the day was 
cold and the walking was bad, went to 
the nearest substation of the post office 
and examined the postal guide. There 
she found what she wished to know." It 
is not strange that her employer soon 
placed greater responsibilities on her 
shoulders. 

" When Sir Ernest Shackleton re- 
turned from his great south polar explo- 
ration, he displayed cinematograph films 
showing himself and two companions 
pulling a heavily loaded sledge over the 
snowy waste. For half a minute, a min- 
ute, two minutes, the film ran on, show- 
ing no change in the monotonous scene. 
Then the audience got impatient. Shack- 
leton smiled. ' Exactly/ he said, ' you 



60 The Lighted Way 

are tired of it in two minutes. We went 
on doing it for twenty-eight days. And 
we were always hungry. We scarcely 
talked of anything but eating, and we 
were always discussing the dinner we 
would have when we got back to civili- 
zation.' " 

It is this spirit of perseverance which 
wins success, whether it be in the field 
of exploration, in the realm of literature, 
in missionary service, or in any vocation 
of life. One of our popular writers, 
Strickland Gillilan, said, " Fifteen or 
twenty publications which look to me 
for a few hundred or several thousand 
chosen words in prose or rhyme, do not 
realize perhaps that they are putting a 
premium on mule-headed stubbornness, 
and a blind spot that falls forever upon 
the word ' can't/ " 

A prominent business man said to a 
young man who asked the secret of sue- 



The Spirit of Service 61 

cess, " Do your duty and a little more.'' 
Some one has said, 

" Always do your best, 

And never let it rest 
Until your good is better, 

And your better best." 

Some time ago an organization was 
started by some immature young people 
which had as its motto, " Get something 
for nothing." This organization spread 
like wildfire. With such a motto, it is 
not surprising that the morals of the 
young people were in great danger, and 
that parents and teachers became very 
much concerned. The Christian princi- 
ple is just the opposite, " Give something 
for nothing." The men and women of 
the light are not asking, " How much 
can I get out of life? " but, " How much 
can I put into life? — how much of help- 
fulness and blessing to my fellow men? " 
In this they follow the motto of Jesus, 



62 The Lighted Way 

"It is more blessed to give than to re- 
ceive." 

Sam Walter Foss has expressed this 
spirit of helpfulness very beautifully in 
the poem, 

THE HOUSE BY THE SIDE OF THE ROAD 

" There are hermit souls that live withdrawn 

In the peace of their self-content ; 
There are souls, like stars, that dwell apart, 

In a fellowless firmament; 
There are pioneer souls that blaze their paths 

Where the highways never ran ; — 
But let me live by the side of the road 

And be a friend to man. 

" Let me live in a house by the side of the road 
Where the race of men go by — 
The men who are good and the men who are 
bad, 
As good and as bad as I. 
I would not sit in the scorner's seat, 

Or hurl the cynic's ban ; — 
Let me live in a house by the side of the road 
And be a friend to man. 

" I see from my house by the side of the road, 
By the side of the highway of life, 



The Spirit of Service 63 

The men who press with the ardor of hope, 
The men who are faint with the strife. 

But I turn not away from their smiles nor 
their tears — 
Both parts of an infinite plan ; — 

Let me live in my house by the side of the road 
And be a friend to man. 

" I know there are brook-gladdened meadows 
ahead 
And mountains of wearisome height ; 
That the road passes on through the long af- 
ternoon 
And stretches away to the night. 
But still I rejoice when the travelers rejoice, 

And weep with the strangers that moan, 
Nor live in my house by the side of the road 
Like a man who dwells alone. 

" Let me live in my house by the side of the road 
Where the race of men go by — 
They are good, they are bad, they are weak, 
they are strong, 
Wise, foolish — so am I. 
Then why should I sit in the scorner's seat, 

Or hurl the cynic's ban ? — 
Let me live in my house by the side of the road 
And be a friend to man." 



64 The Lighted Way 

In one of our schools a boy was mak- 
ing a careful study of the dairy business. 
After careful calculations of the cost of 
the feed and the value of the milk prod- 
ucts, he arrived at the conclusion that 
one cow was costing more than she pro- 
duced, that her only value to the school 
was her society. The cow was sold. 

There are thousands of men and 
women who consume more than they pro- 
duce. They are cumberers of the ground. 
They put forth no effort to be a blessing 
to the world in which they live. A hard- 
working, mentally efficient genius like 
Edison or Marconi, adds to human hap- 
piness, comfort, and safety, by giving us 
electric lights and reproduced music in 
our homes, and wireless telegraphy for 
navigation. A noble man like David 
Livingstone penetrates the unknown 
depths of African jungles, and dies on 
his knees in a grass hut in the heart of 



Efficiency 65 

the Dark Continent, and as a result sal- 
vation and civilization are brought to 
those who sit in darkness. 

An African boy in one of our mission 
schools became tired of what to him was 
a strenuous program, and he came to 
the mission superintendent and said, 
" Teacher, I want to go home where I 
can just sit." Ambitionless people who 
merely exist, pass on and leave no herit- 
age of helpfulness or blessing behind. 

EFFICIENCY 

Every one who is dominated by the 
spirit of service to his fellow men will 
desire to bring his work to the highest 
state of efficiency in order that the great- 
est possible good may come from his life. 

The owners of a large plant desired to 
increase their output from thirteen units 
a month to twenty-three, and bring this 
about in ten months. The manager told 



66 The Lighted Way 

them that the only way to do it would 
be to expend $500,000 for equipment, 
which it would take a year to install. 
Two competent efficiency engineers inves- 
tigated the plant, and reported that the 
output could be increased 60 per cent 
without adding to the force or equipment, 
and not increasing the pay roll more 
than 10 per cent, and that the change 
could be brought about within six months. 
The output was increased 69 per cent, 
and that with a nine-hour day instead 
of a ten, and a reduction of 15 per cent 
in the pay roll. 

Such things are matters of record 
in manufacturing establishments. Like 
results are possible in the matter of 
personal efficiency. In point of fact, 
factory efficiency is largely due to per- 
sonal efficiency. 

Several years ago a young man went 
into a small factory to work by the day. 



Efficiency 67 

He was given the job of assembling the 
machine which the plant manufactured, 
and was told that five machines was a 
day's work. But this young man was 
not satisfied with the results of his labor. 
He brought the various parts nearer to 
his workbench, to save the time spent in 
walking back and forth to get them. 
Then he studied how he could drive with 
fewer strokes the nails used in putting 
together certain parts, and to expend just 
the force to put them in without marring 
the wood. Then he began to set goals 
for his day's output, increasing his goal 
from time to time. The result of his 
efforts was an increase from five to six- 
teen machines a day. He did this with- 
out thought of more pay, for he had 
agreed to work for a certain length of 
time for a stated wage. Efficiency is 
usually rewarded, however. He was 
made manager of the factory, and ap- 



68 The Lighted Way 

plied his methods of efficiency to the 
whole plant, thus increasing the owners' 
profits greatly. That man is now hold- 
ing a responsible position in the Lord's 
work, and applies efficiency methods to 
the work of soul-winning. 

In speaking to religious workers, Mrs. 
E. G. White said : " There must be far 
more personal responsibility, far more 
thinking and planning, far more mental 
power brought into the labor put forth 
for the Master." — " Gospel Workers* 1 p. 
U6. 

NECESSITY OF OBEDIENCE TO LAW 

Behold the perfect order in the phys- 
ical universe. The harmony of creation 
depends upon its conformity to the law 
of the Creator. Behold the heavens. He 
" bringeth out their host by number: He 
calleth them all by names; . . . not one 
faileth." Isa. 40:26. 



Obedience to Law 69 

Some years ago, when traveling 
through the valley a few miles south of 
San Francisco, my attention was called 
to a white building on the top of a moun- 
tain, perhaps fifteen or twenty miles 
away. It was the great Lick Observa- 
tory, away up there, free from the smoke 
of the cities and the fogs of the valleys. 
Go there in the evening to see the stars. 
The astronomer will open a book, ten, 
fifteen, twenty, or more years old, and 
from those calculations he will tell you, 
not only the minute, but the very second, 
when some great luminary in the uni- 
verse, hundreds of millions of miles 
away, will swing within the vision of his 
great instrument. " Not one faileth." 

Nehemiah represents the hosts of 
heaven bowing in adoration before God: 
" Thou, even Thou, art Lord alone; Thou 
hast made heaven, the heaven of heavens, 
with all their host, the earth, and all 



70 The Lighted Way 

things that are therein, the seas, and all 
that is therein, and Thou preservest them 
all; and the host of heaven worshipeth 
Thee." Neh. 9:6. 

If sun, moon, and stars should fail to 
obey the laws which God has made for 
their movements, there would be utter 
confusion, disaster, and destruction. The 
sons of men have chosen to disobey the 
moral law which God has made for their 
guidance, and there is confusion, disas- 
ter, and destruction. 

Sin began in disobedience, in a failure 
on the part of God's creatures to con- 
form to the social order. Righteousness 
begins in obedience, in conformity to the 
will and purpose of God. The condition 
of eternal life is the same today as it 
was in the garden of Eden — unques- 
tioned obedience. 

" Blessed are they that do His com- 
mandments, that they may have right to 



Obedience to Law 71 

the tree of life, and may enter in 
through the gates into the city." Rev. 
22:14. 

The relationship that exists between 
Creator and creature demands it. The 
happiness and freedom of the individual 
can be attained in no other way. 

" The artist is never so free as when 
he is working within the restrictions and 
limitations of artistic law. The singer 
is never so free as when the voice in 
every way conforms to the laws of mel- 
ody. ... So in the higher realm of the 
moral law there is no freedom for a per- 
son unless he is an obedient servant of 
Almighty God. The only real liberty in 
God's universe is that which comes from 
doing God's will." 

Obedience is a test of love. " Ye are 
My friends, if ye do whatsoever I com- 
mand you." John 15: 14. " If ye love 
Me, keep My commandments.'' John 



72 The Lighted Way 

14: 15. " Why call ye Me, Lord, Lord, 
and do not the things which I say? " 
Luke 6:46. 

VICTORY 

" But what are we to do," said a stu- 
dent to his teacher, " in those lower mo- 
ments when the higher motives have lost 
their appeal? " 

Like the boy that found the leak in 
the dike, you must realize that all is at 
stake. Make a supreme effort to yield 
to God, and open the floodgate of His 
power into your life. And form the habit 
of spending so much time alone with God 
and in the study of the principles of the 
kingdom that your life will be " hid with 
Christ in God." Then the higher mo- 
tives will not lose their appeal, but in 
every hour of temptation you will turn 
to Him who is the strength of your life. 

As Mrs. E. G. White has said, " Only 
let the truth for this time be cordially 



Victory 73 

received, and become the basis of char- 
acter, and it will produce steadfastness 
of purpose, which the allurements of 
pleasure, the fickleness of custom, the 
contempt of the world-loving, and the 
heart's own clamors for self-indulgence 
are powerless to influence." — " Testimo- 
nies," Vol. V, p. Jf3. 

' " The allurements of pleasure." Thou- 
sands of young people today are lost in 
the whirl and confusion of worldly pleas- 
ure. And " the fickleness of custom." 
Fashion rules many as with a rod of 
iron; and no slave is more abject than 
the slave of fashion. " The contempt of 
the world-loving." Like the apostle 
Peter in his weakness, we wilt before 
the finger of scorn. " The heart's own 
clamors for self-indulgence." " Every 
man is tempted, when he is drawn away 
of his own lust, and enticed." James 
1 : 14. Here Satan attacks the very cit- 



74 The Lighted Way 

adel — our thoughts. But even here he 
shall have no power, because the truth 
of God has become the foundation of 
the character and the habit of surrender 
has been formed. 

" The soul that is yielded to Christ, 
becomes His own fortress, which He holds 
in a revolted world, and He intends that 
no authority shall be known in it but 
His own. A soul thus kept in posses- 
sion by the heavenly agencies, is impreg- 
nable to the assaults of Satan." — " The 
Desire of Ages," p. 324,. 

The following message was written by 
Mrs. E. G. White in 1892: " The Lord 
is making experiments on human hearts 
through the exhibition of His mercy and 
abundant grace. He is effecting trans- 
formations so amazing that Satan, with 
all his triumphant boasting, with all his 
confederacy of evil united against God 
and the laws of His government, stands 



Victory 75 

viewing them as a fortress impregnable 
to his sophistries and delusions. They 
are to him an incomprehensible mystery. 
The angels of God, ' seraphim and cher- 
ubim, the powers commissioned to co- 
operate with human agencies/ look on 
with astonishment and joy, that fallen 
men, once children of wrath, are through 
the training of Christ developing char- 
acters after the divine similitude, to be 
sons and daughters of God, to act an 
important part in the occupations and 
pleasures of heaven." 

What wonderful results from making 
the truth of God the foundation of your 
life ! Who would not covet such personal 
victories? 

David has taught us to pray, " Create 
in me a clean heart, God; and renew 
a constant spirit within me." Ps. 51 : 10, 
margin. And God is willing to answer 
that prayer if we fulfil the conditions. 



76 The Lighted Way 

The pathway of life may be one of con- 
tinual conquest. 

HONESTY 

A few of the elements involved in this 
life of victory will be given. Sincerity 
and honesty are primary qualities in a 
genuine man. Although the etymological 
origin of the word " sincere " is in doubt, 
one suggestion is that it comes from the 
Latin words sine and cera, which literally 
mean " without wax." This would doubt- 
less come from the ancient potter's trade. 
It was the vessel without hidden defects 
that was sincere. 

There are many temptations to dis- 
honesty. The old story of Diogenes with 
his lantern hunting for an honest man 
is more than a bit of humor. There are 
really very few who are never guilty of 
some form of deception. How easy it is 
for the sake of harmony to pretend to 



Honesty 77 

agree with individuals when you really 
do not; for an executive to give some 
other than the real reason for some deci- 
sion affecting an underworker! How 
easy, by look or act, to tell a lie! You 
may be tempted to permit another, in 
some little business deal, to make a mis- 
take in your favor and not tell him. 
You can think of many reasons why it 
is all right for you to keep silent. It is 
his own fault. He is charging you too 
much, anyway. But every such little 
dishonesty is a twig in the dike. How 
easy to stultify your own mind by always 
expressing the opinions of persons whose 
favor you wish to court. 

A little boy stood in front of a provi- 
sion store. The barrel of apples on the 
outside was open. He looked into the 
store. No one was watching. He took 
an apple and started down the street 
He paused. A struggle was going on in 



78 The Lighted Way 

the little fellow's heart. He looked at 
the apple. He came back. He held the 
apple over the barrel. There was a de- 
cided motion, the apple was dropped, and 
the boy ran down the street, sobbing. 
All was excitement in boydom, for a 
circus was coming. A little fellow was 
trying to get fifty cents for a ticket. He 
had thirty-five cents. He attended school 
in a neighboring town, and the fare was 
fifteen cents. The conductor passed him. 
It would be easy to use this ticket 
tomorrow and still receive the fifteen 
cents for his fare. All day the ele- 
phants stared at him from the pages of 
his Latin book, and the giraffes craned 
their long necks over his tough problems 
in algebra. That night he did not sleep 
well. He was fighting his battle. He 
won. Years afterward he said it was the 
greatest battle and the greatest victory 
of his life. 



Honesty 79 

It is a fine thing to be honest enough 
to make a confession. The story is told 
of Prof. John Stuart Blackie, of Edin- 
burgh, how he lined up two entrance 
students for examination. " Show your 
papers/' said he. One boy awkwardly 
held up his paper with his left hand. 
" Hold them up properly, sir, in your 
right hand," said he. The embarrassed 
boy said something indistinctly, but still 
held up his left hand. " The right hand, 
ye loon," shouted the professor. " Sir, I 
hae nae right hand," said the lad, hold- 
ing up his arm which ended at the wrist. 
A storm of indignant hisses burst from 
the boys. But the great man leaped 
down from the platform, put his arms 
around the boy, and in a voice soft with 
emotion said, " Eh ! laddie, forgive me 
that I was overrough; I dinna mean to 
hurt you, lad, I dinna ken." 

Honest thinking, honest words, and 



80 The Lighted Way 

honest workmanship are essentials to the 
safety and happiness of human beings. 
Two friends were motoring over one of 
the high passes in Switzerland Going 
down the mountain side the road was 
very narrow, with a deep chasm on one 
side and the precipitous mountain on the 
other. As the dangerous descent was 
being slowly and carefully made, one said 
to the other, " What, really, are we put- 
ting our faith in now? " After a few 
thoughtful moments the friend said, 
" We are trusting to the honest work- 
manship of the unknown men who made 
this car," 

LOYALTY 

And do not be a traitor. Be loyal 
first of all to God, whose authority is 
supreme in your life. Be loyal to your 
country, to your church, your school, 
your family, yourself. The world hates 
a traitor. 



Loyalty 81 

" When Benedict Arnold was living in 
London, in his old age, a certain man 
once went to him and asked for letters 
of recommendation to some parties in 
America. The aged traitor stood back, 
stricken aghast at the very suggestion. 
1 What ! ' he said most bitterly, ' ask let- 
ters of recommendation from me? Have 
you lost your reason? Do you not know 
that every honest American would curse 
the man who bore credentials with my 
signature? I have bartered away my 
birthright. My good name is gone for- 
ever/ " 

It is sometimes difficult to be honest 
with ourselves and always true to our 
convictions. It is not always easy to do 
what is right when we know that in 
doing so we shall be misunderstood. 
This principle is well illustrated in the 
story of one of America's unrecognized 
heroes, Senator Edmund G. Ross : 



82 The Lighted Way 

In 1868, amid the bitter partisan 
strife that followed the Civil War, the 
President of the United States was im- 
peached for high crimes and misdemean- 
ors, and placed on trial at the bar of a 
hostile Senate. The whole country was 
inflamed with anger against the man 
who stood in the way of the revengeful 
schemes of the majority. 

The trial was a time of great inten- 
sity. It required two thirds of the fifty- 
four Senators to convict the President. 
It was known how all would vote except 
seven men of the majority, and their 
votes would decide the case. Anticipat- 
ing that they would vote for acquittal, 
the newspapers of the country had abused 
these men shamefully. Among them was 
Edmund G. Ross, a fine, brilliant young 
man, just beginning his career as Sena- 
tor from Kansas. He stood at the part- 
ing of the ways, for if he voted to con- 



Loyalty 83 

vict the President, his political success 
was assured; if he voted for acquittal, 
his constituency would degrade him at 
the next election. It was a hard choice. 

When the balloting reached the name 
of Ross, there was a breathless silence 
to hear his decision. In defiance of all 
the threats, and with a certain knowl- 
edge that it meant his doom, he an- 
swered, " Not guilty." 

The terrible storm burst upon these 
seven men. It was claimed that they 
had disgraced their party and the nation. 
Bribery and corruption was charged. 
Every man was defeated for re-election. 
And this young, brilliant statesman 
stepped down from the very beginning 
of his career into oblivion, but with a 
stainless conscience. 

It was doubtless the rarity of such 
men in public life which prompted the 
following lines: 



84 The Lighted Way 

" God give us men! The time demands 
Strong minds, great hearts, true faith, and 

willing hands; . . . 
Men who possess opinions and a will; . . . 
Tall men, sun-crowned, who live above the fog 
In public duty and in private thinking. . . . 
Wrong rules the land, and waiting Justice 

sleeps. 
God give us men! " 

You may never be tempted to betray 
your country, but there are daily tests 
of loyalty to principle and religious con- 
viction. A girl I knew several years ago 
was about to graduate from high school. 
The commencement exercises were set 
for Friday evening, and could not be 
changed. The other girls pleaded with 
her to be present. It surely would do 
no harm. But this child of God, even in 
her youth, would not swerve from strict 
adherence to duty. She believed that 
God's Sabbath began at the setting of 
the sun on Friday evening, and she would 



Loyalty 85 

obey. As a last effort her classmates 
came to her home on Friday afternoon, 
and took her to the schoolhouse to show 
her the decorations. They pointed to the 
chair that would be empty if she were 
not there, and used every possible influ- 
ence to change her mind. But when the 
hours of the Sabbath drew on, she was 
at home with her mother, ready to enter 
into the spiritual rest and joy of the holy 
Sabbath. 

Yet one must consider what it may 
cost to be loyal. Christian men and 
women and young people have been be- 
headed and burned at the stake because 
they would not renounce their loyalty to 
Christ, in order, as was supposed, to be 
loyal to the state or the church. 

In the days of the early church, Chris- 
tians were martyred because they would 
not offer incense to the pagan deities, 
engage in warfare, or worship the em- 



86 The Lighted Way 

peror. The faithful children of God in 
the Dark Ages often paid with their 
blood the penalty for their loyalty. The 
Lord's admonition is, " Be thou faithful 
unto death, and I will give thee a crown 
of life." 

Europe and Asia abound with memo- 
rials to those who sealed their testimony 
with their blood. In the old city of 
Lyons in southeastern France is a small 
street called " Gurguillon," so named 
from the torrents of blood which flowed 
down it from Mont St. Juste above, where 
Christians were martyred. It was near 
the close of the second century when a 
storm of persecution burst upon the 
churches of Lyons and Vienne a few 
miles below. 

The story is told of Blandina, a fifteen- 
year-old slave girl, who was put to every 
torture, that her Christian mistress might 
be implicated. She was kept in a loath- 



Loyalty 87 

some dungeon and brought into the am- 
phitheater every day to see the agonies 
of her companions as they were roasted 
in the iron chair or torn to pieces by 
the lions. She seemed to be clothed with 
superhuman endurance. Racked by her 
tormentors from morning till night, she 
would only answer, " I am a Christian. 
No wickedness is done by us." Then 
they took her into the circus, and sus- 
pended her on a cross within reach of 
the lions. The multitude howled for her 
life. A lion was loosed, but she looked 
upon the monster and smiled like a 
queen, and the beast did not touch her. 
Then she was taken and scourged, and 
scorched, and cast to a furious bull, 
which tossed her madly, until finally she 
was dispatched with a sword. Her ashes 
were cast into the Rhone, by which they 
were borne to the great sea. And every 
land washed by the ocean waves has 



88 The Lighted Way 

produced just such young people as she. 
In Birmingham, England, there is a 
famous painting, " A Sixteenth Century 
Martyr," the picture of a young Baptist 
girl of the Netherlands being led out to 
be buried alive. She was a servant maid 
of two sisters. These women recanted 
when face to face with persecution, but 
not so Joanna. The procession is emerg- 
ing from a church, led by the grave dig- 
gers. She is accompanied by the priests 
in their hypocritical robes of sanctity. 
On one side is the crowd, who approve, 
and on the other the frantic parents and 
sympathizers, kept back by the soldiers. 
Her face is sad, but resolute, telling of 
a spirit undismayed. When her feet and 
body were covered, she still refused to 
deny her Lord, saying, " They that seek 
to save their life here, shall lose it here- 
after," and continued praying for God's 
sustaining grace. 



Loyalty 89 

It makes one's blood boil to look upon 
this picture, and to think that such 
things should ever have happened. And 
yet it is a source of gratitude that there 
have been even young people in all ages 
who were willing to die for Christ, as 
He died for us. Life for them was sweet, 
but they loved truth and purity more. 

The World War was a crucial test 
of loyalty. No one can but admire a 
man who willingly offers his life for his 
country and the cause he believes to be 
right. There were many shining exam- 
ples of such unselfish devotion in our 
own American army. On the pedestal of 
a soldier statue in a high school yard at 
Dusseldorf is inscribed, " Fur Gott und 
Reich." There were thousands of brave 
boys from every belligerent nation, who 
willingly joined their colors, inspired by 
the thought that they were fighting " for 
God and country." 



90 The Lighted Way 

But there were those, sad to say, whose 
profession of patriotism had been the 
loudest, who were unwilling to sacrifice 
for their cause. There were even those 
so despicably disloyal as to take advan- 
tage of the national distress and con- 
fusion to engage in profiteering. So 
debased in the selfish heart of man! 

Many a Christian lad met the supreme 
test of his loyalty to Jesus Christ in the 
army. One night, after a service in the 
Y. M. C. A. building in one of our can- 
tonments, a young man stopped to talk 
with the secretary. He told how his 
mother had taken him into the kitchen 
before he left home, and said, " Son, let 
me get your eye," putting both of her 
hands on his shoulders. " There, I'm 
looking you straight in the eye. It 
breaks my heart to see you go. Fm not 
afraid of bullets or rigid military disci- 
pline. Fm proud to have my boy give 



Loyalty 91 

his life for our country, but I fear most 
the awful moral conditions. Can you 
come back, if God permits you to return, 
as clean as you are now? When you do 
return, we'll come into this kitchen to 
stand as we are now. You will not need 
to tell me if you are clean. I'll see it in 
your eye. Can you keep clean, my boy? 
Can you do it for your mother? " 

She slipped a little Testament into his 
pocket, and asked him to read it every 
day. " Have you kept your promise? " 
said the secretary. " No," said the lad, 
" the men are so profane and vulgar that 
I haven't had the courage since the first 
night." They talked earnestly together, 
and the young man decided to keep his 
promise to his mother or die. He went 
to his tent. The squad had preceded him. 
Some were in their bunks, others were 
undressing. There were obscene songs 
and profanity. It was a terrible test to 



92 The Lighted Way 

this timid Christian lad. He lighted his 
candle and began to read his chapter. 
Soon the candle was knocked over by a 
well-aimed shoe. It was relighted, and 
again it was extinguished. But the boy 
persevered. " If I quit now, if I show 
yellow, it's my finish/ ' he thought. The 
talking grew less and less. One by one 
the soldiers fell asleep, leaving our hero 
reading from Matthew by the light of 
his little candle. Finishing his chapter, 
he fell upon his knees to thank God for 
victory, and to pray for every other man 
in the tent. 

" Can you do it again tonight? " asked 
the secretary next day. " Sure I can," 
was the quick response of this boy, who 
had found the source of true heroism. 
Other timid Christian fellows followed 
his example, and before long nearly 
every soldier in that unit was in a Bible 
class, led by this boy. 



Loyalty 93 

There were young men who had con- 
scientious scruples against bearing arms, 
whose loyalty to principle was severely 
tested Be it said to their credit, that 
our noncombatant young men offered 
themselves willingly, Superior officers, 
as a rule, recognized the true worth of 
these young men when they came to 
understand their position. Their clean 
moral life and high religious principles 
stamped them as men of worth. Some 
of these men refused promotions in the 
army because they knew it would bring 
them into greater difficulties in keeping 
the commandments of God. Some of 
them were thankful when they secured 
transfers from the fighting units to the 
ambulance corps. And as one official 
expressed it, the bravery of a man cannot 
be questioned who is willing to gather up 
the dead and wounded from " no man's 
land." 



94 The Lighted Way 

Over in France, a young Seventh-day 
Adventist had just completed his three- 
year term of service in the French army 
when the Great War broke out, and he 
was compelled to serve four years more. 

When first in the army, he informed 
his captain of his desire to keep the Sab- 
bath. The captain flew into a rage, and 
made terrible threats. He was finally 
taken to a higher officer, before whom he 
stood his ground and declared his prin- 
ciples. Firmly, but respectfully, he made 
it plain that no amount of threatening or 
punishment would turn him from his 
purpose. He was finally made secretary 
to the captain, and his conscience was 
respected. 

When thrown into the whirl of the 
great struggle, this young man had to 
fight his battle all over again. But he 
won. And while as an interpreter on 
the front line where the British and 



Loyalty 95 

French armies came together, he faced 
all the dangers of war, he did not bear 
arms, and he kept God's law. 

A young man who was a Sabbath 
keeper in one of the large American can- 
tonments was ordered out with other 
men on Sabbath afternoon. A spade was 
thrust into his hand, and he was com- 
manded to assist in digging a trench. 
Modestly he told the young officer why 
he could not engage in labor on that day. 
He was cursed and called a slacker, and 
told to stand there and watch the others 
work if he were too lazy. He was com- 
pelled to stand there in the cold wind all 
afternoon, till he was chilled through. 

Naturally he expected that he would 
be the butt of ridicule that night. But 
not so. The men seemed to understand, 
and to respect a man who was willing to 
suffer for his religion. There were two 
or three card games in progress, and the 



96 The Lighted Way 

usual vulgar language, when this young 
man opened his Bible to read before re- 
tiring. The men showed marked respect, 
and when he knelt down by his bunk, the 
cards were turned down, and all talking 
ceased while our brother talked with God. 
And the next day, a young man who 
had heard of the incident, walked two 
miles in the mud to find this young man, 
and talk with him about religion. This 
seeker after truth felt that a Christian 
experience that was worth suffering for 
was worth having. 

Seventeen young Englishmen who 
were noncombatants were drafted into 
the English army and sent to France. 
As members of the noncombatant corps 
they were subject to more or less ridi- 
cule. These young men were Sabbath 
keepers, and asked to be excused from 
labor on Saturday. At first this was 
granted, and everything went well. 



Loyalty 97 

Finally there was an order issued that 
they should work four hours on Satur- 
day. Their respectful but persistent re- 
fusal brought them into serious conflict 
with the authorities. It was a matter 
of great perplexity to the officers, for it 
was recognized that they were the best 
of workers. It was finally arranged that 
they should put in the extra hours on 
other days, which they were happy to do. 

But there came a change of officers, 
and a determination to make these young 
men conform to the regular hours of 
work. They were cast into prison, ter- 
ribly and unlawfully beaten, and finally 
placed in solitary confinement in dark 
cells, and fed on bread and water. One 
of these young men told me that this 
solitary confinement was an almost un- 
endurable experience. The greatest re- 
lief he found was the repetition of all 
the Scripture texts he could remember. 



98 The Lighted Way 

" How I wished that I had more Scrip- 
ture in my memory ! " he said. 

Finally each of these young men was 
told one Friday night that he might just 
as well go to work next day, for all the 
others had yielded. And every one of 
those boys, in spite of all they had suf- 
fered, and were suffering, and regard- 
less of the promise of deliverance from 
the dungeon, replied that he was sorry 
if his comrades had surrendered, but he 
could not. 

The young man above referred to, who 
is now a missionary in Central Africa, 
said that he did not believe that the 
other boys had surrendered ; but he won- 
dered. To test the matter, on Sabbath 
morning, after all was still in the cor- 
ridors outside, he put his mouth near 
the little crack in the door, and whistled, 

" The Lord is my light ; 

Then why should I fear? " 



Loyalty 99 

And then he put his ear to the aperture, 

and listened, and he heard the response 

from another cell, 

" By day and by night 
His presence is near." 

And he knew the boys were all there. 

These young men were finally released 
and the wrongs they had suffered were 
made right, as far as it was possible. 

We might recount many experiences 
of young men who endured excruciating 
mental and physical suffering as a result 
of their efforts to be loyal to God while 
serving their country to the best of their 
ability. 

Thank God, the spirit of the martyrs 
still lives; and there are even yet young 
people who would rather die than do 
wrong. 

It is the age-old conflict between lib- 
erty of conscience and domination of 
authority in matters of religion. One 



100 The Lighted Way 

generation sees the grave mistakes of 
the preceding generation in these mat- 
ters, and yet is likely to keep on violating 
those sacred rights of conscience. Some 
one defined a saint, "A man with con- 
victions; canonized now; cannonaded 
then." 

It is not always an easy matter to 
harmonize the freedom of the individual 
in his relations to God, with the suprem- 
acy of government in civil affairs. There 
will be conflicts in these adjustments 
until He come whose right it is to rule. 

READING AND MUSIC 

"A man is known by the books he 
reads." What we study in school is not 
always a matter of choice. We cannot 
always choose our company. But our 
reading usually represents our free 
choice, and so shows our taste and the 
trend of our thinking. 



Reading and Music 101 

A young man or woman who feeds 
upon frothy, frivolous literature is de- 
veloping a frothy, frivolous character. 
One who chooses noble, elevating books 
is on the highway to a noble life. 

" The end of all things is at hand : be 
ye therefore of sound mind, and be sober 
unto prayer." 1 Peter 4: 7, A. R. V. A 
sound mind is a result of sober thinking. 
" Those who indulge the habit of rac- 
ing through an exciting story are simply 
crippling their mental strength, and dis- 
qualifying their minds for vigorous 
thought and research." — " Counsels to 
Teachers" p. 135. 

The world is flooded with books of 
fiction. A literary critic says that the 
most striking fact in the history of the 
nineteenth century is the immense vogue 
of the novel and the short story. 

In " Counsels to Teachers," page 383, 
we read concerning fiction: 



102 The Lighted Way 

" It encourages the habit of hasty 
and superficial reading, merely for the 
story. . . . 

" It tends to destroy the power of con- 
nected and vigorous thought. 

" It unfits the soul to contemplate the 
great problems of duty and destiny. 

" By fostering love for mere amuse- 
ment, the reading of fiction creates a dis- 
taste for life's practical duties. 

" Through its exciting, intoxicating 
power, it is not infrequently a cause of 
both mental and physical disease." 

On the contrary, good books " elevate 
the character, purify the life, take the 
attractiveness out of low pleasures, and 
lift us upon a higher plane of living and 
thinking." A single good book has often 
changed the whole course of an individ- 
ual^ life. 

Young people who will lay out for 
themselves a course of good reading and 



Reading and Music 103 

patiently persevere in reading every 
day, may in the course of a few years 
acquire a very excellent mental training, 
and enrich their lives by the acquisition 
of valuable information, and an acquaint- 
ance with the very best in literature. 

" Better than gold is a thinking mind, 
That in realms of thought and books can find 
A treasure surpassing Peruvian ore, 
And live with the great and good of yore. 
The magi's lore and the poet's lay, 
The glories of empires passed away — 
Who the world's great roll can thus unfold, 
Enjoys a pleasure better than gold." 

" Music was made to serve a holy pur- 
pose, to lift the thoughts to that which 
is pure, noble, and elevating, and to 
awaken in the soul devotion and gratitude 
to God." — " Patriarchs and Prophets" p. 
5 9 If. We should cultivate this heaven- 
born gift, and try in our melodies " to 
approach as nearly as possible to the 
heavenly choirs." 



104 The Lighted Way 

Music, perverted, becomes one of the 
most alluring agencies of evil. In some 
respects bad music is more dangerous 
than bad books. While it makes no spe- 
cial challenge to the mind, the influence 
on the character is more subtle. 

Young people like music, and cannot 
always easily distinguish between the 
good and the bad. Much that is writ- 
ten which harmonizes with the vivacity 
of youth, appeals also to the sinful ten- 
dencies of the human heart. 

The owner of a department store in 
a large city said to a visitor, " Do you 
see that music department over there, 
and note the business it is doing? Five 
years ago that department turned over 
$5,000. Last year its sales were $100,- 
000. And what are we selling? Jazz 
and rot." 

It is a sad comment on the popular 
tendency in music. " Jazz," says a mu- 



The Appetites and Passions 105 

sical authority, " expresses hysteria and 
incites to idleness, revelry, dissipation, 
destruction, discord, and chaos. . . . Sel- 
dom do you hear ' Home, Sweet Home * ! " 
Here, as in other things, young people 
who are living the higher life will choose 
the best. This great gift of music will 
be used to the glory of God. With it we 
will cheer ourselves and others as we 
travel on toward the city of God, where 
we shall join the angel choirs. 

THE APPETITES AND PASSIONS 

The ruling motive of life is desire. 
God has placed in us certain hungers, in 
the satisfaction of which we live and are 
happy. There is the hunger for food, the 
desire for companionship, the passion of 
love, and the longing for God. The 
feeble cry of the tiny babe expresses its 
vague desires, and the last faint whis- 
per of life is, " I want " — something. 



106 The Lighted Way 

A great literary man was very low. 
His lips were moving, and the nurse 
stooped down to find that he was repeat- 
ing the Lord's Prayer. She said, " Ex- 
cuse me, I thought you wanted some- 
thing." " I — do," said he, " I — want 
— my — heavenly — Father." 

The perversion of these lawful desires 
of life has flooded the world with sorrow. 
And the " keeping of one's desires within 
the bounds set by God is the highest 
achievement of true manhood and wom- 
anhood." 

Every youth has his struggles with the 
heart's own clamor for self-indulgence. 
How many go down in shame and deg- 
radation because appetites and passions 
are given loose rein! 

As it was in the days of Noah, so is 
it today; men's thoughts are evil contin- 
ually, and appetite and passion hold 
sway. There is a spirit of abandon and 



The Appetites and Passions 107 

a boldness in sin that is truly alarming. 
Every Christian youth has to fight to 
keep his thoughts on a high plane. The 
tempter is ever near with seductive 
smiles and promises of self -gratification. 
" Temptation never comes with a bare 
hook. The asp is hidden among the flow- 
ers. The devil gives the serpent the voice 
of a friend, and lays the young head on 
a silken lap before he sends for the 
Philistines." 

Yet can no man take fire in his bosom 
and not be burned. Prov. 6 : 27. 

In a men's clinic in a city hospital, the 
doctor showed me the condition of a pa- 
tient whose whole body was a mass of 
putrefying sores, and said, " You don't 
have to tell these people that the way of 
the transgressor is hard." 

The remembrance of Delilah's smiles 
was a poor comfort to blind Samson, and 
no temporary pleasures of sense can 



108 The Lighted Way 

compensate for the shame, the loss of 
self-respect, and the physical suffering 
that follow in the wake of moral delin- 
quency. Truly, " her house is the way 
to hell, going down to the chambers of 
death." Prov. 7:27. 

But, thank God, the youth of today 
may be as firm as Joseph and Daniel. 
When that great temptation came to the 
young man Joseph, he said, " How can I 
do this great wickedness, and sin against 
God? " And he fled from it. " In the 
bitter life of a stranger and a slave, 
amid the sights and sounds of vice and 
the allurements of heathen worship, a 
worship surrounded with all the attrac- 
tions of wealth and culture and the pomp 
of royalty, Joseph was steadfast. He 
had learned the lesson of obedience to 
duty." — "Education" pp. 52, 53. And 
the reason is given in these words, " By 
communion with God through nature and 



Social Life 109 

the study of the great truths handed 
down as a sacred trust from father to 
son, he [Joseph] had gained strength of 
mind and firmness of principle." — Id., 
p. 52. 

If, like Daniel, our youth purpose in 
their heart that they will not defile them- 
selves, the God of Daniel will stand by 
their side. It has been well said, " The 
history of Joseph and Daniel is an illus- 
tration of what He will do for those who 
yield themselves to Him, and with the 
whole heart seek to accomplish His pur- 
pose." — Id., p. 57. 

SOCIAL LIFE 

Man is a social being. We hunger for 
friends and for love. Much of the joy 
of life comes from the wholesome asso- 
ciation with others. 

" The Author of all beauty, Himself a 
lover of the beautiful, God provided to 



110 The Lighted Way 

gratify in His children the love of beauty. 
He made provision also for their social 
needs, for the kindly and helpful asso- 
ciations that do so much to cultivate sym- 
pathy and to brighten and sweeten life/' 
— "Education" p. J>1. 

" Those who shut themselves up within 
themselves, who are unwilling to be 
drawn upon to bless others by friendly 
associations, lose many blessings; for by 
mutual contact minds receive polish and 
refinement; by social intercourse, ac- 
quaintances are formed and friendships 
contracted which result in a unity of 
heart and an atmosphere of love which 
is pleasing in the sight of heaven." — 
" Testimonies;' Vol. VI, p. 172. 

" Iron sharpeneth iron ; so a man 
sharpeneth the countenance of his 
friend." "As in water face answereth 
to face, so the heart of man to man." 
Prov. 27:17, 19. 



Social Life 111 

" Especially should those who have 
tasted the love of Christ develop their 
social powers, for in this way they may 
win souls to the Saviour." — " Testimo- 
nies;' Vol VI, p. 172. 

Here again the perversion of the best 
is the worst. There is no place, perhaps, 
where the devil has a stronger hold upon 
young people than in their social life. 
The social instinct develops before the 
judgment matures, and before boys and 
girls really appreciate the seriousness 
of life. 

The awakening instinct of love for 
the opposite sex and the intense desire 
for companionship with other young peo- 
ple, are not fully understood, and hence 
not brought under proper control. 

It often happens, too, that the youth 
are unwilling to receive suggestions; for 
there is no time in life when we know so 
much, in our own estimation, as in the 



112 The Lighted Way 

teens. Young people rarely understand 
at first the value of the proprieties, and 
are very likely to feel rebellious at what 
seem to them unreasonable restrictions 
on their associations and conduct. 

But instead of resenting the proffered 
suggestions of teachers and parents who 
understand better than they the pitfalls 
set for their unwary feet, young people 
should gratefully accept counsel. They 
should carefully study these questions, 
and take themselves in hand and guide 
their lives by the principles of right. 
There is nothing, perhaps, that affects 
our lives for good or evil more than the 
attitude we take in youth on these social 
questions. 

DRESS AND AMUSEMENTS 

Social life brings two other problems 
into prominence, — dress and amuse- 
ments. There is perhaps no mirror that 



Dress and Amusements 113 

so clearly reveals character as dress. It 
reveals the wearer's ideas of cleanliness, 
beauty, and economy. It gives oppor- 
tunity for the display of personal variety 
and egotism on the one hand, or of quiet 
simplicity and nobility of character on 
the other. And besides all this, the dress 
question is a moral question. 

While the great tendency among young 
people is to give too much time and 
thought to dress, it is a very important 
question, and Christian young men and 
women should consequently study the 
principles involved, and set for them- 
selves standards for healthful, becoming, 
and economic attire. We owe this to 
ourselves, and to Christ whom we serve. 
Our dress is a constant advertisement of 
our character and the religion we profess. 

F. B. Meyer, the noted English 
preacher, makes the following sugges- 
tions to Christian girls: 



114 The Lighted Way 

" Do not dress showily, or extrava- 
gantly, or beyond your means. Do not 
dress in such a way as to call attention 
to any part of your figure, or to distort 
or alter it. Do not dress so that people 
shall notice your dress more than your- 
selves. There is no reason why the gen- 
eral style of your dress should not be 
like that of others. To be totally out of 
the fashion would make you needlessly 
singular, and attract as much attention 
as if you were dressed in the height of 
fashion; and whatever makes others 
think of us, or us to think of ourselves, 
turns our thoughts away from Jesus 
and from better things. I think that 
there is no higher art for a Christian 
girl than to dress simply, quietly, and 
tastefully, as one who is careful of the 
body which Christ has given, but who is 
mindful also of the apostle's words : ' Let 
the women adorn themselves in modest 



Dress and Amusements 115 

apparel, with shamefacedness and so- 
briety/ " 

A recent writer says, " The vulgar 
crowd likes finery. The more real cul- 
ture a woman has, the less she fancies 
fine feathers. She abhors a hat or gown 
that renders her conspicuous." 

Mrs. E. G. White said: " Simplicity 
of dress will make a sensible woman ap- 
pear to the best advantage. We judge 
of a, person's character by the style of 
dress worn. Gaudy apparel betrays van- 
ity and weakness. A modest, godly 
woman will dress modestly." 

There are styles of dress today quite 
in harmony with these principles; but 
there are shocking examples everywhere 
of a lack of good taste, and even of re- 
gard for decency. High-minded people 
everywhere protest against the transpar- 
ent waists, low-cut gowns, short skirts, 
the fantastic styles of hairdressing, and 



116 The Lighted Way 

the use of artificial coloring for the skin. 
Neither young women nor young men 
who are following the lighted way of the 
God-planned life, will have either time 
or disposition to do those things which 
minister to pride, vanity, and unclean 
thinking. 

The play instinct is very prominent in 
the child, and should never be entirely 
abandoned, even in old age. It seems 
consistent, however, that with a growing 
sense of responsibility in youth, there 
should be a decreasing interest in amuse- 
ment for its own sake. A realization of 
the seriousness of life will cause young 
people to plan for the proper use of their 
time in the accomplishment of serious 
objectives. 

It would be a sad spectacle to see a 
child of ten still finding its chief delight 
in the rattlebox. So it is nothing short 
of tragic to see a young person of twenty 



Dress and Amusements 117 

refusing to assume the responsibilities 
that developing manhood or womanhood 
brings, but looking upon life as one 
grand holiday, to be spent in satisfying 
the demands of perverted appetites and 
passions, with no regard for future con- 
sequences to himself or others- 
It is important for every young man 
and woman to understand that true 
pleasure is a by-product of useful work, 
and that it is wrong to make a business 
of amusement. " Sport is at an end 
when sport is made the end of sport/ ' 
It is recognized by thinking men and 
women everywhere that commercialized 
amusement is one of the great problems 
of today. As some one has said, " The 
spontaneity of playful activities and the 
originality which creates them are being 
lulled to sleep by the habit of being 
amused." Thousands of people are will- 
ing to forego the joy of devising their 



118 The Lighted Way 

own recreations. They turn away from 
nature with its infinite sources of inter- 
est and delight, choosing rather the 
crowded houses of public entertainments, 
which for the most part are " a tanta- 
lizing appeal to the sensations/' 

Not only does the theater draw its 
patrons away from the natural and 
wholesome forms of diversion to the ar- 
tificial and sensational, but the theat- 
rical business is fundamentally wrong in 
principle, While there may be a few 
exceptions, it is very generally recognized 
that the business of acting demoralizes 
the actor. As a theatrical critic of the 
London press said several years ago, 
" Stage life, according to my experience, 
has a tendency to deaden the finer feel- 
ings, crush the inner nature of men and 
women, and to substitute artificiality and 
hollowness for sincerity and truth; and, 
mind you, I speak from an intimate ex- 



Dress and Amusements 119 

perience of the stage, extending over 
thirty-seven years." 

How could it be otherwise when plots, 
murders, illicit love, and other crimes 
are acted out in the most exaggerated 
and realistic way over and over again 
by these actors? One who has been an 
actor, but is now an earnest Christian, 
told me that it is next to impossible 
to keep morally clean in the theatrical 
profession. Is it right to support a busi- 
ness that demoralizes those who pro- 
mote it? 

In answer to the question as to who 
shall be saved, Isaiah answers, " He that 
. . . stoppeth his ears from hearing of 
blood, and shutteth his eyes from seeing 
evil." Isa. 33:15. The principle laid 
down here condemns both the spoken and 
the silent drama. It is said in the Bible 
that the Lord " hath no pleasure in 
fools" (Eccl. 5:4), and that "fools 



120 The Lighted Way 

make a mock at sin " (Prov. 14:9). 
Can Christians take delight in what 
their Lord does not? Can those who 
appreciate the fact that sin is the cause 
of all sorrow, go to the theater and laugh 
at the portrayal of sin? Can it be right 
to be amused by that which sent Jesus 
to the cross? 

The tendency of the theater is to 
deaden one's sensibilities to sin and to 
foster false ideas of life. The movie, 
with its universal sex appeal and its con- 
stant portrayal of lax morals, is one of 
the underlying causes of the wave of 
crime and immorality sweeping over the 
world today, and is furnishing an edu- 
cation to the rising generation that bodes 
no good for the future. 

There is only one safe course for the 
young man and woman of the lighted 
way, and that is to avoid all entertain- 
ments that foster low aims, suggest im- 



Courtship and Marriage 121 

purity, or cause one to lose interest in 
the Bible and the higher life. Those who 
would be active agents in giving God's 
last message to the world, must not only 
avoid such things, but must actively seek 
every means of raising their standards 
and must take advantage of whatever 
will help them to live the life that is 
" hid with Christ in God." 

COURTSHIP AND MARRIAGE 

God is the author of love. True affec- 
tion between man and woman is holy; 
and genuine courtship is a sacred thing. 
The first marriage was celebrated in the 
garden of Eden. 

And yet how often we see young men 
and women (yes, even boys and girls) 
engaged in flirtation, or mock courtship. 
Flirtation is making love a pastime, and 
is a travesty on the most holy and exalted 
feelings of the human heart. It is an 



122 The Lighted Way 

outrage on one of the most important 
and sacred relations of life. 

We expect the enemy of all good to 
do his utmost to pervert that which was 
intended by the Lord for man's greatest 
good and happiness. There is no surer 
way to bring confusion and unhappiness 
into the world than by following wrong 
ideas of courtship and marriage. 

The tendencies of our time foster the 
too early consideration of these questions 
by boys and girls. Mrs. F. D. Chase, 
who was for eighteen years editor of 
the Youth 9 s Instructor, says : " Whole- 
some, seemly friendship between boys 
and girls should never give place to a 
silly sentimentalism that is entirely out 
of accord with good form. This quickly 
robs a girl of that beauty that is so 
characteristic of the modest, womanly 
girl in her early teens. It takes from 
a boy that manly seriousness which is 



Courtship and Marriage 123 

always acceptable to his older friends. 
It destroys that interest in school work 
which lays for its possessor a good foun- 
dation for future successful educational 
effort. The boy or girl who betrays too 
early an interest in matters intended by 
God for the adult person, is like a boy 
or girl of nine or ten insisting on wear- 
ing the attire meant for the full-grown 
man or woman." 

Years ago Mrs. E. G. White wrote 
in the book, " A Solemn Appeal : " " The 
young affections should be restrained 
until the period arrives when sufficient 
age and experience will make it honor- 
able and safe to unfetter them. Those 
who will not be restrained, will be in 
danger of dragging out an unhappy ex- 
istence. A youth not out of his teens is 
a poor judge of the fitness of a person 
as young as himself to be his companion 
for -life.". 



124 The Lighted Way 

There are those who seem to think 
that it is impossible to restrain the affec- 
tions. Sir Walter Scott wrote: 

" He who stems a stream with sand, 
And checks a flame with flaxen band, 
Has yet a harder task to prove, 
By firm resolve to conquer love." 

But the Bible gives no sanction to the 
giving of a loose rein to the affections. 
Christian young people will be able to 
bring all these affairs of love or fancy 
to the bar of a sanctified judgment, and 
to act in harmony with sound principles. 

There can be wholesome, sensible 
friendships between young men and 
young women without courtships, al- 
though great care must be exercised that 
there shall be no misunderstandings. 

The practice of some young men in 
making love to one girl and then to an- 
other, as the insect flits from flower to 



Courtship and Marriage 125 

flower, is neither dignified nor just. It 
is only the fool who says, 

" The happiest life that ever was led 
Is always to court and never to wed." 

And pure young women should beware 
of such smooth-tongued rogues. 

" Beware, heart, if indiscreet, 

How thou bestowest the all thou own ; 
The bee when surfeited with sweet, 
Will leave the ravished rose alone." 

As a leading American scholar has 
said: "The girl that is all things to all 
men will soon be nothing to any man." 
The girl who enjoys this unholy pastime 
of flirtation is unfitting herself for the 
serious work of life and denying herself 
of life's purest happiness. The young 
woman who boasts of the number of pro- 
posals she has had as the savage boasts 
of his scalps, is degrading herself. 

God brought the first man to the 
first woman, and he is just as willing to 



126 The Lighted Way 

guide us in our choice today. This ques- 
tion of marriage should be considered 
with calm reason and prayerfulhess. 
Young people should seek the counsel of 
parents, whose unselfish interest in their 
welfare is usually above question. They 
should seek counsel from trusted and real 
friends who are not afraid to speak the 
truth. And they should seek counsel 
from God, who is always ready to give 
us wisdom if we are willing to receive it. 
The lack of principle among Christian 
young people is often seen in their dis- 
regard of the Lord's commandment, " Be 
ye not unequally yoked together with 
unbelievers.' ' Would that all Christian 
young people might realize the truth of 
these words from Mrs. E. G. White: ■" If 
you want to have a home from which 
the shadows are never lifted, then unite 
your interests in life with one who is 
an enemy of God." The path of the his- 



Courtship and Marriage 127 

tory of the church is strewn with the 
wrecks of those who have lost their hold 
on God by worldly alliances, from the 
time before the flood, when " the sons of 
God saw the daughters of men that they 
were fair; and they took them wives of 
all which they chose," down to the pres- 
ent time. 

" Make haste slowly," is a good motto 
for young people contemplating mar- 
riage. But if an engagement has been 
entered into, and you find that a mistake 
has been made, it is far better to break 
the engagement than to enter into a 
union with one whom you cannot respect 
or with whom you are not in harmony. 
" A broken engagement is infinitely bet- 
ter than a broken life." 

Over in Singapore a Chinese young 
woman accepted Christ. She went to 
her father and told him that it would 
be impossible for her to carry out the 



128 The Lighted Way 

contract that he had made that she 
should marry a man who was a heathen. 
The father felt that the family would be 
disgraced; and moreover he had spent 
the $75 he had received for her, and 
could not return it But that Christian 
young woman, because she chose to fol- 
low the principles of God's truth, worked 
at small wages and earned the $75 which 
purchased her freedom. Would that 
young people born and reared in Chris- 
tian lands were always as true to prin- 
ciple as this young woman just out of 
heathenism. 

WHICH WAY? 

One of our historians wrote a book 
entitled, " The Critical Period of Amer- 
ican History." The period referred to 
was not the time when the colonies were 
fighting for freedom from the mother 
country, nor yet our period of civil strife; 



Which Way? 129 

but the time just following the Revolu- 
tionary War, when it was being demon- 
strated whether or not this country could 
stand alone as a free and independent 
nation. 

So the critical period of life is the time 
between childhood and manhood, which 
we call youth. It is the decisive time in 
life, for then decisions are made which 
affect the whole future life. 

I once saw a picture of the two ways, 
one the upward way, strait and nar- 
row, but lighted by the glory streaming 
forth from the City of God at the end; 
and the other the broad highway leading 
down into eternal darkness. A young 
man stood hesitating which way to take. 
The artist had pictured the form of an 
angel whispering to the young man, and 
pointing to the upward way. 

Every young man and young woman 
at some time stands at the parting of 



130 The Lighted Way 

the ways, and must decide. It is the 
hope of the author that what is here 
written will help some young people to 
choose the lighted way, — the way of 
righteousness, service, true success, ever- 
lasting joy. 

Many young people need to be aroused 
from the lethargy of an easy-going, aim- 
less life. 

" Live for something, have a purpose, 

And that purpose keep in view, 
Drifting like a helpless vessel, 

Thou canst ne'er to life be true ; 
Half the wrecks that strew life's ocean, 

If some star had been their guide, 
Might have long been riding safely, 

But they drifted with the tide." 

Then we need to adopt God's plan 
for our lives. 

" Couldst thou in vision see 

Thyself the man God meant, 
Thou nevermore wouldst be 
The man thou art — content." 



Which Way? 131 

It is the blessed privilege of every one 
to be able to say at the end of life, as 
Jesus said, " I have finished the work 
which Thou gavest Me to do," and to hear 
God say to us, " Enter thou into the joy 
of thy Lord." Such a crowning glory 
then, is a result of an uncompromising 
attitude toward sin, and habitual loyalty 
to conviction now. Self-indulgence pro- 
duces weakness. Resistance produces 
strength. 

" The greatest want of the world is 
the want of men, — men who will not be 
bought or sold; men who in their inmost 
souls are true and honest; men who do 
not fear to call sin by its right name; 
men whose conscience is as true to duty 
as the needle to the pole; men who will 
stand for the right though the heavens 
fall."— " Education^ p. 57. 

Two young men who were college stu- 
dents several years ago will serve to 



132 The Lighted Way 

illustrate these two ways. One was 
naturally a very brilliant fellow. His 
wonderful memory, his glibness in con- 
versation, and his cutting sarcasm soon 
attracted considerable attention. It was 
evident that he was choosing the wrong 
way. Egotistical, critical of the school, 
and very irreverent toward religious 
things, his influence in the school became 
a matter of much concern to the faculty. 
Efforts were made to show him the wrong 
course he was taking, but he was high- 
headed, resentful of any intimation that 
he was not all right, and quite defiant 
of school regulations. It finally became 
necessary for the faculty to separate him 
from the school. 

He won the affections of a Christian 
young woman, and after some hesita- 
tion, she was induced to marry him. But 
the responsibilities of a home did not 
change his character. He became an 



Which Way? 133 

avowed infidel, and gathered a library of 
atheistical books. He had an ambition 
to become a more learned man than his 
former teachers. 

But when Satan gets fast hold upon a 
man, he does not usually allow him to 
stop with a mere worldly life of " re- 
spectable " sinning. He plunged this 
young man into drink and drugs. Wife 
and children were neglected and misused, 
until finally there was no remedy but 
the breaking up of the ruined home, and 
this once brilliant young man became an 
outcast in a wicked city. 

The other young man was not so bril- 
liant by nature. He had to work hard 
to master his lessons. But his one am- 
bition was to do the will of God and to 
become a soul-winner. In the minds of 
some he was almost extremely devoted. 
I can see him yet in my imagination, as 
at Sabbath school he bent over his class 



134 The Lighted Way 

of young men so earnestly, endeavoring 
to impart to them the word of God, which 
had become so precious to him. His 
room in the college home was a center 
of good influence, for there tempted 
young men often learned how to pray 
and find strength. 

This young man did not finish his col- 
lege course, either. I think it was lack 
of funds that prevented; possibly the 
urgent call to service. With a faithful 
Christian wife he went to a mission field. 
For over twenty years he has been a 
missionary without a furlough to the 
homeland. He has truly become an 
apostle of the advent message to be- 
nighted people, even to cannibal tribes; 
and light has shone into thousands of 
hearts because of his ministry. His 
health becoming impaired by incessant 
toil and privation, he has been assigned 
to a more favorable location, where he 



Which Way? 135 

is still working for the Master. Their 
only child has entered into the spirit of 
her parents, and her life is also being 
spent in God's service for the needy. 

As you look for a moment at these 
two men, is there any question, young 
man, young woman, which way you 
should take? The right way is the way 
of true success and happiness even in 
this life. And it is the way that has no 
end. Even a long life of service in this 
world is only the entrance gate into an 
eternity of joy and achievement. 

" The years of eternity, as they roll, 
will bring richer and still more glorious 
revelations of God and of Christ. As 
knowledge is progressive, so will love, 
reverence, and happiness increase. The 
more men learn of God, the greater will 
be their admiration of His character. 
As Jesus opens before them the riches 
of redemption, and the amazing achieve- 



136 The Lighted Way 

ments in the great controversy with 
Satan, the hearts of the ransomed thrill 
with more fervent devotion, and with 
more rapturous joy they sweep the harps 
of gold; and ten thousand times ten thou- 
sand and thousands of thousands of 
voices unite to swell the mighty chorus 
of praise." — " The Great Controversy," 
p. 678. 



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